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| Vol. 17, No. 18 | Feb. 5, 1998 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 18 | Feb. 5, 1998 |
Three books published by the University of Delaware Press have been selected as outstanding academic books for 1997 by Choice, a publication of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
Those selected for the prestigious Choice list are Harmonious Tensions: The Writings of Friedrich Schiller by Steven Martinson, Women's Worlds in Shakespeare by Irene Dash and Familiar Violence: Gender and Social Upheaval in the Novels of Frances Burney by Barbara Zonitch.
Books are chosen on the basis of excellence in scholarship and presentation, significance with regard to other literature in the field and important and frequently first treatment of a subject in print or electronic format.
"It is highly unusual for a press to receive recognition for three of its books, and the citations reflect the selectivity and high quality of books published by the University of Delaware Press," said Donald Mell, English, who chairs the UD Press board of editors.
The reviewer of Dash's book, Women's Worlds in Shakespeare's Plays, wrote "Dash (Hunter College, CUNY) traces a two-century tradition of oversimplified and diminished feminine characters as depicted on the English and American stage.... Dash progressively contrasts the characters Shakespeare created with caricatures theatrical performances have often presented.... All...will appreciate the restoration of Shakespeare's heroines to their orginal complexity. Recommended for all collections."
Martinson's book, Harmonious Tensions: The Writings of Friedrich Schiller, is described as an "ambitious, exhaustively researched study of selected writings from Schiller's entire corpus.... Because of its many suggestions for new understandings, use of sources, close textural analysis and redirection of scholarly attention...this book is a necessary addition to the bookshelves of all students of Schiller, casual and expert alike."
The reviewer of Familiar Violence: Gender and Social Upheaval in the Novels of Frances Burney wrote that the "introduction provides an excellent overview of the conditions of social change in the late 18th century," followed by chapters devoted to Burney's four novels. "Throughout," the reviewer continued, "the discussion is mercifully free of current critical jargon, which makes this volume suitable for upper- division undergraduates as well as researchers and faculty."
A member of the consortium, Associated University Presses, the UD Press has has an established reputation in the fields of 18th-century literature, Renaissance and Shakespearean studies, art history and history. It published 27 books in 1996, out of 92 manuscripts submitted for review.
Future plans for the press include an occasional series on Delaware and the Eastern Shore, which will include the region's history, culture, folklore and literature, Mell said.
Last year, four UD Press books were nominated for the 1996 Barnard Hewitt Award for Outstanding Research in Theatre History and another was nominated for the 1996 Scholar's Choice award.
"The UD Press reflects the scholarly mission of the University as well as encouraging independent and significant research," Mell said.
Others on the UD Press board of editors are Susan Brynteson, libraries; Perry Chapman, art history; Wayne Craven, H. F. du Pont Professor of Art History; Carl Dawson, Jay Halio and Charles Robinson, English; Mary Donaldson-Evans and Joan Brown, both foreign languages and literatures; Tamara Hareven, UNIDEL Professor of Individual and Family Studies; Carol Hoffecker, Richards Professor of History; John Hurt, history; and J. A. Leo Lemay, Winterthur Professor of English.
-Sue Swyers Moncure
